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Elizabeth II HAS REIGNED in a world moving swiftly through political shifts, cultural change and technological advances. Traditional institutions of law, religion and politics have suffered loss of ...

Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born at 17 Bruton Street, London on 21 April 1926. A happy childhood was spent with her parents, the Duke and Duchess of York, and younger sister Margaret Rose. ...

Edward VIII (1936) Edward, Prince of Wales, eldest son of George V and Queen Mary, was known to the family as 'David'. Charming and informal, he was a popular prince, touring Britain and the empire, ...

When Queen Victoria died in 1901, she left three generations of heirs. They, it was expected, would reign as monarchs of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. In fact, the name survived only 16 years. In ...

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When Egypt became part of the Roman empire in 31 BC, Romans came into direct contact with Egyptian culture and religion. As elsewhere in the empire, Roman soldiers were closely integrated into the civic and religious life of Egypt and participated in local cults. Around Manfault, on the banks of the River Nile in central Egypt, Roman soldiers were particularly attracted to the crocodile cult.

This may be the first European print to depict an actual historical naval battle. The Battle of Zonchio was fought between the Ottoman Turks and the Venetians in August 1499 off Zonchio, nrth of Navarino, in the Greek Peloponnese. The Ottomans were victorious. One of the Venetian commanders was killed during the battle and the other was taken as a prisoner to Istanbul, where he was sawn into pieces on the order of the Ottoman sultan Bajazet II.

The blades made by Japanese swordsmiths from the Heian period (795-1285) onwards are renowned for being both technically and aesthetically outstanding. They were made by repeatedly folding and hammering a piece of iron which was given a final heating and quenching in water to harden the edge. An individual sword blade could be identified by the grain of the body and the hamon, the pattern created by the crystalline structure of the cutting edge.

A man walking in woods in East Anglia literally stumbled across this dirk (short sword) in 1988. It had been thrust vertically into soft peaty ground nearly 3500 years ago, but erosion had exposed the hilt-plate, which caught his toe.

Violence is a constant in human life, however regrettable, and objects used in war and violent sports, or in celebrating or commemorating war, martial virtues and violence, necessarily form a significant part of the Museum’s collection. Indeed, some of the most popular exhibits in the Museum have a martial connection, such as the set of Samurai armour or the crocodile armour from Roman Egypt.

This cameo was carved from a three-layered sardonyx. The different coloured layers in the gem have been cut away to create a raised image that contrasts with its background. The jeweled headband was added in the medieval period.

Ndop are royal memorial'portraits'carved by the Kuba people of Central Africa. They are not naturalistic portrayals but are intended as representations of the king's spirit and as an encapsulation of the principals of kingship. Ndop were carved in the eighteenth century, making them some of the oldest surviving examples of African wood sculpture.